


AC 208

by IsolaVirtuosa



Series: Sexts, Lies, and Duo Maxwell [3]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: 1x2, Dramedy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:24:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1989696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsolaVirtuosa/pseuds/IsolaVirtuosa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After all the sexts and the lies, Duo and Heero are ready to try and be happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	AC 208

**\- AC 208 -**

 

            “Wow.”

            “Yeah.”

            “So that was…”

            “Yeah.”

            “What the hell did we wait so long for?!” I snapped, smacking Heero in the arm.

            “Wasn’t my fault,” he murmured, nonplussed by my sudden show of violence.  He reached to pull the blankets up over us and nestled his cheek against my chest.

            “It’s kinda hot…” I said, kicking away some of the blankets.

            “It’s freezing in here,” Heero said, sounding amused.

            “You lit that big fire,” I said, gesturing towards the fireplace.

            “Weren’t you the one always complaining that this cabin was freezing?”

            “Nope, don’t recall.”

            “You’re a terrible liar.”

            I sighed, threading my fingers with his.  “I can’t believe we just had sex.”

            “Me, either,” he said, grinning up at me with that dopey little boy grin of his.

            “You look too damn smug to believe that.”

            Heero shook his head, hiding away in my chest like he was suddenly shy.  “When you left…” he started, then hesitated.  “I never thought you… would even talk to me again, much less…”

            “Me, too,” I said, continuing to run my fingers through his hair.

            Heero looked up at me, very contrite and pathetic.

            I kissed him softly.  “I’m glad we were both wrong.”

            Heero continued to give me his puppy dog eyes, so I kissed him again.  This one turned more lingering, the slide of Heero’s tongue against mine causing me to tighten my hold on his hair.

            “Oh,” I breathed as he pulled away.

            “Hm?” Heero murmured, nuzzling my neck.

            “This is… good,” I concluded, letting out a (manly) squeak as Heero nipped at my earlobe.

            Heero smiled at me and I suddenly felt embarrassed as fuck.

            “Gimme those blankets,” I said, yanking them over me even though I was still feeling quite warm.

            Heero let me get settled, then slid off of the bed.

            “Where you goin’?”

            Heero opened the bedroom door and a blur of yellow suddenly flew at me.

            “Not your stupid dog!” I yelped as I was attacked with slobber.

            “She’ll keep you warm,” Heero said, glaring at me.  He didn’t like when I insulted his stupid dog.

            “I want you to keep me warm,” I growled at him, and even as I was saying it I thought it sounded stupid.  I was as dumb as the damn dog.

            Heero grinned at me and climbed back into bed, momentarily distracting Goldie from licking my face off so she could go and lick her master’s face off.

            “This bed is not big enough for three,” I informed him.  “It’s not even really big enough for two.”

            “But she always sleeps with me,” Heero said, and suddenly I was getting double puppy eyes from him and the stupid dog.

            So Heero curled back into my arms and Goldie the Bigass Golden Retriever lay at our feet and we were all a happy family.

            How exactly is it that Heero and I got to this point?  I’m not entirely sure myself.

            I mean, things had been good.  After Quatre’s wedding, Heero and I struck up a friendship of emails and awkward exchanged pleasantries.  Then when Q and his bride of convenience made the move to L4 last year, Heero came with him as his bodyguard.  That made us neighbors and awkward friends in person.

            The in person bit was the important part.

            I mean, even Quatre’s wife grew on me with proximity.  I like Nyla.  She and Quatre aren’t right for each other romantically at all whatsoever, and I’ll never agree to their sham of a marriage even if it has produced my adorable nephew Qadeer.  But she’s a good person.  A little too quiet, but thoughtful and sweet.  She’s a good mother to my drooly little pal, who she loves more than anything.  I was determined to strongly dislike her, but seeing her all the time made that impossible.

            If I couldn’t stay mad at Nyla for coming in between Quatre and Trowa, then how was I supposed to stay mad at Heero with his blue eyes and his shy smile and his perfect muscles?

            Heero had changed.  I mean, in the end he was still _Heero_ , just a shyer, more humble Heero.  It took a bit to get used to.  And that dog of his.  That stupid golden retriever was the man’s life.  Wufei of all people had bought it for him, giving Heero the dog after he left earth.  The small puppy quickly became a huge, drooling ball of fluff that liked to jump on and lick anything in its path.

            Goldie may have taken more getting used to than the new Heero.

            The first time I went over to his apartment, she was on me like a pig in shit.  Meanwhile Heero was just standing there being awkward and trying not to look me in the eye.

            “Are we just going to stand in front of the door or are you going to invite me in?” I asked, lifting my leg and picking up the tiny dog that was attached to it.

            “You are in.”

            “So we’re just going to stand here?” I asked, handing him his dog.

            Heero took the dog and she licked his face enthusiastically.  “I don’t know.”

            “Well figure it out,” I said, striding into the living room and dumping my coat on the back of his couch.

            Heero stood by the door, looking helpless while Goldie helpfully slobbered on his face.

            “Come sit,” I said, taking pity on him.  It was our first time alone together in a very long time.

            Heero sat as far away from me as possible.

            “Seriously?”

            “What?” he asked, setting the wriggling puppy back on the ground and watching her bound off sadly.

            “I don’t bite…”

            “I know that.”

            “Then stop being so damned awkward.”

            “I’m not…” he started to say, then trailed off.  His eyes finally met mine, and he said, “I’m nervous.”

            Heero Yuy admitting weakness?  This was new.  “What about?” I asked, keeping my own nervousness to myself.

            He paused, clearly thinking over his answer.  “I don’t want to mess this up.”

            “Me either,” I said, nudging his foot with mine.  “I’ve missed you.”

            “Really?” Heero said, all open and guileless.

            “Yes, you asshole.”

            Heero smiled.

            I smiled back.

            Things continued to be awkward.  For like a year.

            “It’s because you want to bone him,” Trowa informed me.

            I almost dropped the weight I was lifting.

            Trowa caught it right before it crushed my chest.

            “What the fuck, Tro.”

            “You’ve still got five reps to go.”

            “How the hell am I supposed to concentrate on working out when you’re saying crazy shit like _that_?” I demanded.

            “Crazy, _factual_ shit?”

            I glared up at him from flat on my back, thinking my glare probably wasn’t all that effective but I glared anyway because he was being a jerk.  “Heero and I are done.  We’ve been done for years.”

            “But you’re trying to be friends.  So you’re not really done.”

            “Done romantically.”

            “I didn’t say anything about romance.  I said you wanted to bone him.”

            “I-” I started, then stopped.  “Well, okay.  Heero is still very… attractive.  And I’m not blind, okay?  But it’s not going to happen.”

            “Then I think you two are going to continue being awkward around each other,” Trowa said, giving me the weight back.  “Finish up.”

            “You and Quatre patched things up without fucking,” I commented as I pumped out the last five reps.

            “Uh, yeah, sure,” Trowa said, and I almost dropped the damn weight again.

            “The fuck, Barton?!”

            Trowa sighed, setting the weight back in place.  “I’m never spotting you again, Maxwell.”

            “You had se-” I started, and quickly stopped.  Trowa was giving me a death glare, and I knew better than to mess with one of those.  “No, we need to talk about this.”

            “We’re not teenage girls, and we do not need to talk out every meaningless detail of our lives.”

            “Meaningless?” I asked incredulously.  “Meaningless?!  Holy fuck, I was wondering why you two suddenly stopped hating each.  Things were just going so nicely, and everyone was getting along, and I thought wow life is good.  Little did I know, Barton, little did I know.”

            “Come on,” Trowa said, still glaring at me and moving towards the locker room.

            “Don’t you ‘come on’ me,” I said, scampering up after him.  “He’s _married_.”

            “I’m aware,” Trowa said shortly.  “Keep your mouth shut.”

            “Uh, do you even know who you’re talking to?”

            “We are at work.  Shut your face until we get to my car.”

            “How the hell am I supposed to do that after the bombshell that has just been dropped on me?”

            “I know where to hide the body so no one will ever find it.”

            “I thought you gave up on killing.”

            “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

            “I don’t think that quite made sense.”

            “It won’t matter after you’re dead.”

            “Point taken, I guess.”

            Trowa was angrily stripping at this point, changing out of his gym clothes and into his Trowa chic wear.  The man loved big, gay turtlenecks.

            I just stayed in my stinky gym clothes, hauling my gym bag over my shoulder while I gawked at my former unibanged friend.

            “What are you so mad for, anyway?” I asked.  “You’re the one who brought it up.”

            “I didn’t bring it up, you just caught me off guard.”

            “Holy shit, I caught Trowa Barton off guard?  Mark this day in your calendars, folks.”

            “Shut up and get in my car.”

            I slid into the passenger seat, a very strange knot in my stomach.  “You’re an adulterer.”

            “No, Quatre is an adulterer,” Trowa said.  “I’m the… other one.”

            “The mistress?”

            “Do I look like a fucking mistress to you?”

            “Well, if you’d asked me this ten minutes ago I woulda said no, but now I’m not so sure…”

            “It’s not a big deal.”

            “It’s not a big deal that you and Q are fucking?!”

            “You and I fucked.”

            “Yeah, the one time.  How many times have you and Quatre done the deed?”

            “Duo, it was not the one time.  I seem to recall at least three orgasms.”

            “Yeah, but it was one night, so it only counts as one time.”

            “I don’t really trust your math logic.”

            “Stop evading the question!”

            Trowa stopped the car in front of my apartment.  “More than once.”

            “I can’t believe you!  He’s _married_.  What the hell are you thinking?  What if Nyla finds out?”

            “She already knows.”

            “What.  The.  Fuck.  How long has this been going on?!  And why the hell am I only hearing about this now?!”

            “Because you suck at keeping secrets.”

            “I do… not…”

            “You’re the worst liar, too.”

            “I…  You’re fucking Quatre!”

            “Yeah,” Trowa said, and the tiniest hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

            “I don’t get it,” I said with a sigh, dropping my forehead against the dashboard.

            “I don’t really, either,” Trowa said softly.

            I stole a glance at him.  He looked the happiest I’d ever seen him, which really wasn’t saying anything at all because he’s such an emo bitch, but still…  “Does Catherine know?”

            “Hell no.”

            “This isn’t healthy.”

            Trowa shrugged.

            “We’re all still pretty fucked up, aren’t we?”

            “Yeah,” Trowa agreed.  “So, you gonna bone Yuy?”

            “No.”

            “I think that’s the right choice.”

            “But you just said…”

            “Things will just be awkward between you two for the rest of time.”

            “But I don’t want things to be awkward…”

            “Then resolve the unresolved.”

            “Your advice is annoying.”

            “Get out of my car.”

            “I hate you.”

            “Good.”

            I went up to my apartment, scratching my head and wondering what the hell was wrong with all of us.

            “I agree with Trowa, you should just bone him or accept that things are always going to be awkward.”

            “I just want to be friends with the guy, is that so much to ask?!” I cried.  “And wait, weren’t we talking about you and Trowa boning…”

            “There’s not really anything to talk about.”

            “You’re married.  And you broke the guy’s fucking heart.  You said you weren’t gay.  There is so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to start.”

            “My wife has a girlfriend, Trowa and I made up, and I’m finally ready to be me.  Deal with it or leave.”

            I sighed, pulling absently at the tassels on Quatre’s ridiculously embroidered couch pillows.  “We’ll never be normal will we?  Not even with all the therapy in the world…”

            “No,” Quatre said quietly.  “We won’t.”

            There was a knock on the door.

            “Come in,” Quatre said.

            Heero stepped into the room, eyes flicking nervously towards me before settling on Quatre.  “I finished my rounds, so I’m heading home.  You’ll be ready to go tomorrow at seven?”

            “Let’s make it six thirty,” Quatre said.  “I want to get to the airport a bit earlier.”

            “Understood,” Heero said, moving to leave.

            “Heero, be a dear and drive Duo home?”

            “I have my bike…” I protested.

            “It’s a little cloudy out, chance of rain.”

            “There’s not a cloud in the damn sky.”

            “Duo, shut up and go with Heero.”

            Heero looked confused.

            We walked out of the mansion together in our usual awkward silence.

            “So, did you know that Trowa and Quatre are diddling?” I asked conversationally after we’d gotten into Heero’s car.

            “I’m Quatre’s bodyguard.”

            “And…?”

            “I know everything that happens in his house.”

            “Dammit, so I’m the only one who didn’t know?”

            “Yes.”

            “Why does no one ever tell me anything?”

            “Because you’re terrible at keeping secrets,” Heero said with a little smile.

            I smiled back because he was cute when he said it, unlike that asshole Trowa.

            Heero blushed and focused his eyes on the road.

            “So…” I said.

            Heero stayed quiet.

            “There really isn’t a fucking cloud in the sky,” I commented.

            Heero grunted a response.

            “Trowa thinks I want to bone you.”

            Heero slammed on the brakes and I jerked forward against my seatbelt.

            “Jeez, Heero, I was just making conversation.”

            “Conversation?”

            “Mm.  Man, I can’t believe Barton and Winner.”

            “I’m going to the cabin next month.”

            “Huh?”

            “After the peace summit, I’ve got some time off and…”

            “So you thought you’d go to the middle of easter bumfuck and enjoy the lack of running water?  Is the damn thing even still standing?  It’s been… damn like ten years.”

            “I want to find out,” Heero said quietly.

            “Cool,” I said, for lack of anything better to say.

            Heero resumed driving.

            I got out at my apartment, giving him a wave as I went through the door.  When I got upstairs, my phone informed me that I had a text.  I flipped it open, not surprised that it was from Heero.  He didn’t say much when we were together in person, and often tried to express himself afterwards in rambling texts.  At least they weren’t accidental sexts.

            ‘Come with me?’

            It was simple and to the point.

            ‘Okay,’ I answered before I’d really thought about it.

            Ah, yes.  So that’s how we ended up here, in the middle of Russia in bed together.  Damn Trowa for planting the idea in my head.  This was a mistake, wasn’t it?  It hadn’t seemed like a mistake when it had been happening, but then wasn’t that always the way?

            “I can’t believe we’re here,” I’d marveled when we first arrived.  “It’s so… dusty.”

            “Yes, well.”

            We’d walked around the property, taking in all the changes.  Heero had chopped some wood while I’d gone straight for my coffee maker, getting the generator fired up so I could make me some coffee.  I made Heero some tea, handing it off to him when he came in from outside.

            The smile on his face had been priceless.

            It all felt so familiar and comfortable.  We sat on the sofa and just talked about our lives.  It was like it had been all those years ago in the cabin, when we’d told each other everything.  When we’d been open and honest with each other, and closer than we’d ever been.  When we’d showed each other all of our scars and tried to face down our demons.

            “So even though he was understanding at first, I think it all just started to wear down on him.  Especially about the nightmares.  He asked me if I couldn’t just take a pill for them.  Like that would fix everything.”

            “That’s kind of what happened with Jenna,” I said, watching the fire crackle in front of us.  “She told me I couldn’t keep a knife under the bed anymore.  And she would get so pissed at me every time I went all soldier at the slightest loud noise.  She just couldn’t deal with all my PTSD shit, and I guess I can’t blame her.”

          “Yeah, I don’t blame Ahmed,” Heero said quietly.  “He was good for me.  Good to me.  He just wasn’t you.”

            I turned to face Heero sharply, but he was staring at the ceiling.  “Heero…”

            “I guess I’m just meant to be alone,” he said softly.

            I was kissing him before I really knew what I was doing.

            Heero shoved me away, looking freaked out.

            Then Goldie attacked me with her tongue, thinking I had affronted her master.

           We somehow ended up in the bedroom, with the door closed and Goldie on the other side of it.  She whined, which made Heero look pained, but he somehow stood strong.

            “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

            Heero shook his head.  “No, I…  It’s my fault.”

            “How is it your fault?” I asked.  “I got all up on you, so I think this one’s on me.”

            “All up on me?” Heero repeated, wrinkling his nose.

            I smiled through my shame.  “Just forget about it.”

            “Oh,” he said quietly.

            I sat on the edge of the bed, eyeing the sleeping bag that was rolled up in the corner of the room.

            Heero added some wood to the fire, his back to me.

            I flopped onto my back, staring at the ceiling.  “Stupid Trowa…” I muttered.

            “What?”

            “Nothing.”

            My phone buzzed, so I reached into my pocket and flipped it open.  It was from Heero.  I raised an eyebrow at his turned back.

            ‘You kissed me.’

            Damn.  I’d hoped he would forget.

            ‘Sorry about that man.  I just got all nostalgic and shit.’

            That wasn’t really a very good explanation, but I couldn’t really come up with anything better.

            It took several minutes for Heero’s phone to buzz.  Stupid backwater wireless.

            I watched him read the screen and shake his head, then start typing.  It took another few minutes for the message to arrive after he’d stopped typing.

            ‘Please don’t dick around with my feelings.’

            I stared at his back incredulously.  Then I started typing furiously.

            ‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’  It was my standard answer to things I didn’t understand.

            I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for his phone to buzz.  When it did, he started typing and quickly hit send.

           I waited.  And waited.  “Fucking wireless!” I finally raged after the message didn’t arrive for several minutes, throwing my phone to the floor and stalking over to Heero.  “Just talk to me.”

            Heero turned over his shoulder, giving me a nervous look.

            “We were talking before!” I said, poking him in the shoulder.  When he didn’t answer I intensified the poking.

            “It’s hard to talk to you,” he finally said.

            “People tell me that I am very easy person to talk to.  I am downright personable.”

            “But you don’t listen.”

            “I listen.  I listen a real lot.”

            “Duo, for fuck’s sake.  I love you.  I have always loved you.  That is why we can’t be friends.  That’s why I wanted you to come here with me.”

            “What, so you could say goodbye?” I asked, starting to feel annoyed to cover up my complete embarrassment.

            “Well yes, but that would only be after you rejected me.”

            “Rejected you from what?”

            Heero gave me a look like I was so fucking slow.  “You really don’t listen.”

            “I’m listening.”

            “Then what the hell did I just say to you?”

            “That you were going to say goodbye to me after I rejected you.”

            “And before that?”

            “That I don’t listen.”

            “In between, Duo, in between.”

            I stared at him blankly.  “Was I supposed to memorize the whole damn conversation?”

            Heero looked like he wanted to pull his hair out.  Or pull out mine.  “Duo.”

            “What?!”

            “This is why it’ll never work,” he said, and suddenly he just looked very defeated.

            “What won’t work?”

            “I just fucking told you that I loved you and you didn’t even react!”

            “I…” I said, but found my jaw just kind of hanging open without any words coming out.

            “You never listen.”

            “I… listen…” I protested meekly.  Then I suddenly came back into myself, pissed and ready for a fight.  “You’re the one always spouting out bullshit that you don’t mean.”

            “I have never meant anything more in my entire life.”

            “That’s a little melodramatic.”

            “I spend a lot of time with Relena.  But she’s right.  I’m right.  Whatever.  I love you, Duo, but you never believe me.”

            “Yeah, you loved me so much that you moved right on to fucking everything that moved without blinking an eye.”

            “I was trying to fill the fucking hole inside of me.”

            “Well, that’s one way of putting it,” I said, rolling my eyes.

            “Don’t make my pain into a euphemism.”

            “Your pain?”

            “God fucking dammit, Duo!  I’m trying to express my feelings to you, which if you weren’t aware, is very fucking difficult for a robot like me.  I don’t know how to say it to make you believe me.  Just tell me what the fuck to say and I’ll say it.”

            “Heero, there’s nothing to say.  We weren’t right for each other.  We’ve both moved on.”

            “We’re both alone.”

            “And maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

            “Why can’t you at least acknowledge my feelings for you?  You don’t have to fucking return them, just acknowledge that they’re fucking real and that I love you.  Can’t you give me that?”

            I stared at Heero, tears actually pricking the corners of his eyes, and I just did not get it.  This whole conversation was beyond me, and I didn’t know where to go or what to say.

            “I guess… I don’t believe you,” I said softly.

            Heero’s face just looked like he’d broken into a million pieces.

            I reached out to touch it, cupping his cheek in my hand.  “You could never love me Heero, because I’m not worth your love.”

            “Why do you have to be like this?” he said, shaking his head.

            “My therapist says I have low self-esteem,” I said, giving him a self-deprecating smile.

            “Do you remember how I used to always send you illicit text messages?”

            “How you used to sext me by accident all the time?” I clarified.  “Yes, I recall.”

            “It wasn’t an accident.”

            “What, so you sexted me on purpose?”

            Heero nodded gravely, like it was the most important matter in the world.

            “Uh…” I said, my hand sliding from his cheek.

            Heero caught my hand in his, pressing it back to his cheek.

            “You’re annoying and you’re loud and you’re a slob-”

            “My therapist also tells me that when people belittle me, I put up with it because I think I deserve it, but that I should-”

            “You never fucking listen, you’re pig headed-”

            “I think you’re the one who’s not listening this time...”

            “You drive me crazy and you’re perfect and I love you, and if you’re not going to fucking believe me then I’m going to kiss you until you do.”

            “You’re… huh?”

            Heero closed the gap between us, catching me off guard and causing our teeth to smash together in a very unsexy way.

            I tried to protest, but that only gave Heero’s tongue better access to my mouth.  My eyelids fluttered shut and I kissed Heero Yuy like I’d been not-so-secretly dreaming of since he’d shown back up in my life two years ago.

            Heero pulled back, nose still touching mine.  “Do you believe me yet?”

            “Huh?” I said, all woozy and dreamy and star-seeing.

            Heero kissed me again, mouth moving against mine with practiced familiarity.  It was comfortable and familiar but still hot and steamy and it was everything I’d been missing.

            “Do you believe me?” he whispered, lips brushing against mine as they formed over the words.

            “How the hell is kissing me gonna convince me?” I whispered back.

            Heero growled threateningly at me.

            “I want to believe you,” I breathed into his lips.

            “That’s a start.”

            “’Cause I love you, you know?  So it’d be good if you loved me, too.  I think.”

            “You are an idiot.”

            “My therapist said I shouldn’t let people talk down to me.”

            “I meant it affectionately.”

            “No, you didn’t.”

            “Well, okay, but you’re really pissing me off.”

            “Then maybe I should take my hand off of your ass.”

            “No, that would piss me off more.”

            “Oh, good.  ‘Cause I wasn’t really gonna move it,” I said, giving his butt a thorough grope.  “What are we doing?”

            “Working things out?”

            “I want to.”

            “Then stop getting in the way.”

            “That was kind of deep.”

            “I have a therapist, too.”

            “Did she tell you how to seduce me?”

            “It’s a him.”

            “Fine, did _he_ tell you how to seduce me?”

            “I don’t know, is it working?”

            “Kind of.”

            “Oh…”

            I stared down into his eyes, feeling my chest tighten.  “Heero?”

            “Yeah?”

            “So all those times you sexted me, you were really sexting _me_?”

            “This is what you fixate on?”

            “Answer the damn question.”

            “Yes, Duo.  I was really sexting you.”

            “That kinda makes me feel better.”

            “Why…?”

            “I dunno.  Just does.”

            “Good?”

            “Mm.  Good.”

            “Duo, if you touch my dick like that I’m going to think that you want to have sex with me.”

            “That’s kind of the idea.”

            Heero froze, looking at me like a deer in headlights.

            I rubbed him through his jeans again and felt a very nice response.

            “Duo…” he said in a strangled-sounding, high-pitched voice.

            “That’s why we came here, isn’t it?” I asked, sliding my hand back to his ass.  “That’s why you asked me to come here with you.”

            “I was just going to ask you on date,” Heero squeaked.  “I thought if you didn’t punch me in the face, maybe we’d kiss.”

            “You asked me to this cabin in the middle of the woods to ask me on a date…?”

            “It made sense at the time.”

            “So you don’t want to have sex?”

            Heero’s response was to tear my shirt up over my head and start kissing me like it was the end of the world.

            I kissed back hungrily, finding myself backed into the wall.

            Heero moved down to my neck, kissing it thoroughly and distracting my fumbling attempts to unzip his jeans.

            “Fuck,” I growled.

            Heero’s head shot up, his wide eyes meeting mine.  “What?”

            “Huh?” I said.

            “Please don’t say you want to stop because I honestly don’t think I can.”

            “Why the hell would I want to stop?  I can’t get this fucking zipper down is all.”

            “Oh thank god,” Heero said, moving my hand and shoving the zipper down.  He decided that while he was at it, he’d yank my pants and boxers down to my knees and hike me up around his waist.

            The wall felt rough against my bare back, but I honestly couldn’t care less as Heero pressed his body into mine.  Then his hand was around both of us and my head was banging back against the wall and things got a bit messy.

            “Still coming early, I see,” Heero said, grinning into my neck.

            “Fuck you.”

            “I didn’t bring any condoms.  Or lube.”

            “I did,” I murmured into his hair.

            I was suddenly dropped down to my feet without any warning.

            “You were really planning to have sex with me here?” Heero asked, staring at me incredulously.

            “Well, I thought I’d see how things go.  Always be prepared, and all that shit.”

            “You are perfect,” Heero said, kissing me again.

            I grinned into the kiss, feeling a little better about the whole early ejaculation thing.

            “Where?” Heero gasped out suddenly, and he was hauling me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

            “Uh, in my duffel bag…” I said, not sure how I felt about Heero carrying me around like a ragdoll.

            “Okay,” Heero said, dropping me on the bed.  “I’ll be right back.”

            “Okay…” I said, feeling a bit dazed.  My pants and my boxers were holding my legs together like chains, so I kicked them off.  Then I looked down and thought my socks looked pretty stupid since I was otherwise completely naked, so I pulled them off, too.  Then I thought ‘shit, I’m naked and there’s come on my stomach’, which made something inside of me tie into little knots.  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

            When I opened my eyes, Heero was coming back into the room, looking nervous and dopey.  “I got them,” he said, holding up the box of condoms and the tube of lube.

            I stood up to meet him, suddenly feeling self-conscious about being the only naked person in the room.  “Thanks,” I said, taking the items from him and tossing them on the bed.  I reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up over his head.

            His eyes got all smoldering at that.

            I pressed my lips to his, feeling them part for me and running my tongue along his teeth.

            Heero started backing me towards the bed as our tongues moved together, his hand burying at the base of my braid and tugging in a way that had me shoving him on the bed and getting rid of his pants.

            Heero stared up at me, resting back on his elbows with this sad, longing look on his face.

            “Hey,” I said, straddling his lap and kissing him gently.

            “Hey,” he answered, cupping my face in both hands.

            “I love you,” I said, kissing him again.

            “I love you, too,” he whispered against my lips.

            It was slow and deep, our eyes locked on one another as we moved.  I think I swore a lot, but whatever was coming out of my mouth was all a blur.  Heero was more quiet, keeping his mouth focused on kissing every inch of available skin.

            This time I came after a more appropriate interval of time, clutching Heero’s shoulders while he held onto me tight, grunting out his own release.

            “Wow.”

            “Yeah.”

            “So that was…”

            “Yeah.”

            So Heero and I had done the deed.

            “Don’t make that face,” Heero said, dropping a coffee in front of me on the kitchen table.

            “What face?”

            “Like you’re not happy,” he said, making his pathetic puppy face.

            “Then you stop making that damn manipulative face,” I said, taking a drink of coffee and feeling significantly better.  “You got any cigarettes?”

            “I quit, as did you.”

            “Yeah, but I just feel like I really need one right now.”

            Goldie put her paws on my legs and licked my face.

            “Yep, a cigarette would be good about now.”

            Heero shook his head, kissing me on the top of my head.  Then he pulled Goldie off of me, letting her rest her massive paws on his chest while he pet her and smiled his dopey smile.

            “You think we can make it work this time?”

            “Yes,” Heero said

            “You sound confident.”

            “Because it’s what I want,” he said, easing the dog back to the ground.  “Isn’t it what you want?”

            “Yeah,” I said.  I tugged him down to me, kissing him.

            Heero smiled, kissing my nose in turn.  “Remember when there was no kissing in the cabin?”

            I snorted.  “That feels like a hundred years ago.  What were you thinking with that, anyway?”

            “Just a dumb kid,” Heero said, twirling a loose strand of my hair around his finger.  “Afraid.”

            “Of little ol’ me?”

            “Terrified.”

            “I’ve never seen you terrified a day in your damn life.”

            “I have a good poker face.”

            Heero rested his forehead against mine, closing his eyes.

            I closed my eyes, too, and just breathed him in.

            “We weren’t supposed to survive the war,” Heero said softly.

            “But we did.”

            “Yeah, we did.  So let’s survive peace, too.  Together.”

            “Corny,” I said with a snort, opening my eyes.  “And kind of dark, actually…”

            Heero shrugged, standing back up.  “Drink your coffee, Duo.”

            “Yessir,” I said, picking the cup up and taking a heavenly sip.  “Love you.”

            Heero smiled, a smile so wide and open that it said more than any words ever could.

            We left the cabin behind, going back into the real world hand-in-hand.

            “So you boned?” Trowa asked when he met us outside of baggage claim.

            “Yeah, and he’s not even married.”

            “Hilarious.”

            “Where is the little missus, anyway?” I asked, shifting the duffel bag onto my shoulder as we headed towards the exit.

            “Waiting in the car with Quatre,” Trowa said.

            “I was talking about Quatre?”

            “Yeah, and I was making fun of your dysfunctional married couple relationship with Wufei.”

            “You’re a funny guy, Barton.”

            “I try.”

            The door to Quatre’s big-ass SUV flew open and the man himself came barreling out, wrapping me and Heero in a double hug.  “I’m so happy for you two!”

            “Uh,” I said.

            “Thanks?” Heero said.

            Goldie barked enthusiastically on her leash, licking Quatre’s leg.

            “Can we hurry this along?” Wufei asked after rolling the window down and glaring at us all.

            I did the only reasonable thing I could do and tackled him through the open window.

            “What the hell, Maxwell?!” he sputtered.

            I just cackled, butt hanging out of the window as I smothered Wufei in my affections.  “You glorious Chinese man, you.  I thought you went back to earth already.”

            “My work here was unfortunately extended.”

            “So unfortunate,” I said, sliding back out of the window.

            Heero tugged on the collar of my coat.

            “What, did you want to jump through the window and smother Wufei with affections, too?” I asked with a grin.

            Heero rolled his eyes.  “Get in the damn car and let’s go.”

            Since our bags and Goldie were already loaded in the back, and the others were buckled in and ready to go, I decided to do so.

            “Soooo, you two had a nice trip?” Quatre asked with an overly bright smile in the rearview mirror.

            “It was a’ight,” I said with a shrug, leaning back into Heero’s arm.

            “Heero?  Thoughts?” Quatre asked cheerfully.

            “It was fine.”

            “And?” Quatre prodded.

            “So how’s your adulterous sex with Trowa?” I asked.

            “Good,” Quatre said agreeably.

            Trowa shot me a murderous look from next to me, while Wufei up in the passenger seat just dropped his head in his hands tiredly.

            “We’re a fucked up bunch, aren’t we?” I said with a grin at Trowa, poking him in the cheek.

            “Yes, we are,” Quatre agreed cheerfully.

            “Yes, you are,” Wufei said pointedly.

            “Ha!  Said the uptight bitch lifelong bachelor,” I said.

            “At least I’m not desperate enough to sleep with one of you lot,” Wufei said.

            “Ohhhh, throwing down the gauntlet.”

            “We should get pizza,” Quatre interjected, apparently nonplussed about the assault on all of our honor.

            “Extra meat,” I chimed in.

            “And eggplant,” Heero said.

            “Heero, what do you hafta ruin a perfectly good pizza for?” I asked.

            “Extra eggplant,” Wufei intoned.

            “Do they have those cinnamon breadstick things?” Trowa asked.  “And I want buffalo wings.”

            We decided on the order and Wufei called it in.  We ended up at Trowa’s apartment a few minutes before the delivery man arrived.

            “Let’s get a movie,” I said, flipping on the TV and opening up the on-demand selections.

            “Barton, where are your plates?” Wufei asked as he opened up random cupboards.

            “Who’s a good girl?” Quatre cooed at Goldie, producing some dog treats from out of nowhere and giving her one.

            Goldie barked enthusiastically, licking Quatre’s face.

            Heero glared at Quatre.  “Quit buying her affections.”

            Quatre grinned at him.

            “Duo, pick a normal movie,” Trowa reprimanded me.

            “But I want to see Wufei blush,” I said as I continued scanning through the erotic options.

            “Cur,” Wufei muttered, putting the plates down on the coffee table in front of me and sitting down.

            “How about this dramatization of the Marimeia uprising?” I suggested.  “I heard the guy who plays the guy who’s supposed to be Heero is like middle-aged and kind of fat.”

            “Pick a normal movie,” Trowa repeated, putting the pizza boxes next to the plates.

            “What do you guys want to drink?” Quatre called from the kitchen.

            I settled on an action movie with lots of pointless explosions that would be sure to spark up a debate on the lack of believability of the action sequences.  Drinks were passed out and pizza was procured.

            “Sit next to me?” Heero said, a finger looping into my belt loop.

            “Sure, you dope,” I said, poking him in the stomach.

            “Who’s a dope?” he countered, poking me back before sitting on the couch.

            Wufei sat on my other side, with Quatre squeezing in next to him and Trowa sprawled out on the floor in front of us.

            “Ready?” I asked, raising the remote.  Receiving an affirmative consensus from the group, I started the movie.

            “This is going to be awful,” Wufei commented as the opening sequence began.

            “I hope so,” I agreed, sliding an arm around Heero who laid his head on my shoulder as he chewed on his extra eggplant pizza.

            “Pass the wings?” Quatre said, and Trowa obligingly stretched out his freakishly long arm to grab the chicken and pass it to Quatre.

            It was all so fucking normal.

            I kissed the top of Heero’s head, then poked Wufei in the stomach for no reason.

            Wufei glared at the offending digit, but continued to eat his pizza with as much dignity as he could muster.

            “I love you guys,” I said with a grin.

            “Love you, too,” Heero said, holding up a piece of eggplant and popping it into my mouth.

            “I’m trying to watch the movie, Maxwell,” Wufei growled.

            “I tolerate you,” Trowa said, at the same time that Quatre declared, “Aw, we love you, too!”

            So five fucked up former terrorists enjoyed a terrible movie together while eating pizza and buffalo wings, with those cinnamon breadstick things for dessert.  And I couldn’t help but think that life was good.  Somehow through all the war, fighting, sexts, and lies, the five of us had survived.

            We were one big, happy, dysfunctional family.


End file.
